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The Flayed King
"WOE! WOE ONTO THOSE WHO ARE CROWNED IN THE CROWN OF BLACK HEAVENS!" -Harbinger of Kaiwan The Flayed King is a malevolent, telepathic entity thought to be the last emperor of the Juren Dynasty in Tian-Hyad. Acting as the physical avatar of the Old God Kw'nthe on Azeroth, this dreaded being manifests itself in the mortal shell of the Emperor at the end of each dynasty, at which point he lays waste to his subjects and is forced to be put down by the next dynasty, continuing the cycle. Description The Flayed King operates in his own pocket of the Twilight Realm, where Heido still stands. He is closest to his master in this place, and, despite not existing within our reality, he is still on Azeroth. Each time he is slain, he is sent here once more to his prison-throne and reintroduced to his horrific torment. Kaiwan speaks to him through The Lake of Jaundice, a yellow "lake in the sky" that represents his realm within the void. Within his realm, the Flayed King is described as a roughly humanoid figure, faceless and covered in horrific gashes from head to toe. He sits on a throne of spikes, constantly bound to his throne and exposed flesh crawls on his bones seemingly of its own accord, along with countless bleeding tentacles. A yellow silk robe reminiscent of the ancient emperors of Hyad is draped over its body. The Flayed King exists as both an individual, a series of individuals and a curse simultaneously. Despite all being incarnations of the same being, previous manifestations of the Flayed King are rumored to return each cycle to terrorize the living as he draws closer. Each incarnation of the Flayed King differs greatly, as the individuals affected are seemingly chosen at whim by Kaiwan. Often, royal families may begin to suffer from "symptoms," subtle or otherwise, of latent manifestation with increasing frequency and severity through generations. Mosty are mental such as mania or paranoia, while more noticeable signs are physical. Individuals who are physically affected develop mutations, which may give them animal-like appearances or worse. Often, ritualistic self-mutilation may occur as manifestation grows truly imminent. At the point of a manifestation, an Emperor is truly monstrous in appearance, and further mutations can occur rapidly and at whim. The original appearance of the Flayed King is unknown, although he was cited as being old at the time of his first death. Some speculate that, like many Juren preceded him, he was exceptionally tall and bearded, due to their heavy Vrykul heritage. Personality Much like the its appearance, the personality of the Flayed King varies greatly depending on the affected individual. Manifestations are defined by their gaping void of empathy and constant desire to corrupt, destroy and commit unimaginable atrocities on the living. Towards the end of each cycle, individuals are visited in dreams by the Flayed King, driving many to violence and insanity. Those who remain to tell the tale speak of the dark being communicating to them feelings of horrific pain and unfathomable anguish, as if he is constantly screaming at brainsplitting volume without any audible voice. Whether this is the truth or a ploy to convert more into its brutal thralls is unknown, but it is consistently referenced in local legend. Nothing is known for certain on the original personality of the Flayed King, but many believe that even in life he would have had to have been at a level of evil far beyond normal human comprehension. History The Flayed King was originally a human Emperor from the isolated island kingdom known as Tian-Hyad. He was part of the Juren dynasty, a long lived bloodline descended from vrykul who had overthrown and enslaved the local Mogu population. The long forgotten purpose of the island was to protect the world from the entrance of a sixth Old God through a rift between reality and the Void. As Tian-Hyad expanded, the capital of Heidou was built atop this rift, and as a result, many, including The Flayed King turned insane. Eventually, the emperor was contacted by Kw'nthe, who appealed to either his ambition, his decadence or perhaps even his madness in exchange for his servitude. Thus, the Emperor began a decades-long rein of terror, capturing both animals and humanoids for ritualistic torture and sacrifice siphoning their fear and pain for his dreadful means. He once-worshipped emperor of Hyad cared little for mortal affairs, and sent his soldiers to pillage the land rather than feed his people. The ministers of the court feared and and respected him for his unnaturally long life, growing suspicious as he aged even slower than was typical of his royal bloodline. Fearing treason, the emperor had many such ministers butchered, along with their families. The cold blood of his victims, as well as their eyes and tongues were served to those who survived as a message to those who dared stand against him. Downfall, Death and Rebirth : See main article: Legend of The Flayed King However, as knowledge of the Emperor's crimes spread throughout the land, his subjects became impossible to control. Soon, open rebellion erupted in every corner of Hyad, and the Emperor ramped up his brutality in response, attempting to intimidate his subjects as he did his council. Armies that had served his ancestors religiously deserted, and soon the public of Heidou bayed at the very gates of his palace. What followed has been recounted in the nightmarish folklore of the hyadese ever since. The peasants dragged the once emperor through is palace in chains, stripping his clothes and breaking his bones in the process. but the wiser men of the city, the scholars and artists, fled the kingdom, for they knew what the things in the palace dungeon meant. The emperor crawled through the mud on broken knees, hissing unholy words although his jaw was broken as he was brought to the market square. He was tied to a wooden post in the market square, and slowly stripped of his flesh for three days, during which time multiple limbs were severed in pieces and his flesh was cut over three thousand times. The flayed meat was sold to the townsfolk, who ate it or kept it for alchemy. Eventually, they took his head by slowly cutting his neck with that same knife. Still, through soaked teeth he gurgled inhuman words that came from dark places, laughing all the while until his head was held aloft.The Emperor was in pieces, yet it seemed as though his laughter still echoed. As a final act of humiliation he was planned to be dumped in the square to rot, but the lifeless look of the king was so resentful and disgusting that none wanted to gaze upon his ruin a second longer. It was decided that he would be buried beneath the earth, unmourned and forgotten. They buried him on the city outskirts as in a shallow grave, wanting to leave as soon as possible. Over the next three days, the citizens were visited by the wrath of their fallen emperor, in the form of by plagues of disease and madness. The Emperor would resemble his form and rise from his grave on the third day, reborn as the terrible Flayed King. All who survived at this point were forced to apart their own flesh, as the King walked through the bloody streets to his throne in the palace dungeon. The Emperor sat on the throne, the spikes impaling both his body and soul. This was his rightful throne, but he was there to suffer forever. The city sunk beneath the earth and collapsed in on itself along with everything in it. Its inhabitants were now in another place, transformed and remade into something twisted and inhuman. The people began to cheer, parading as they did when they were alive on the day they took the palace, laughing and laughing as the King silently screamed. And so, the city is ruled forever by the Flayed King, while the masked dead celebrate and parade until they rot. Those that had fled the city, the scholars and artists, did not find peace, however. They were haunted both in waking moments and in dreams with whispers from the twisted city. They would go on to write dramas and poems, composing songs and paintings or what they had seen. Some tell of the Flayed King, vile and scornful, swearing to his scholars that he would return to take the throne of the living once more. His chains would shatter, uniting his unearthly realm with Hyad under his broken shadow. Return By the dark will of Kaiwan, The Flayed King's words would come to pass. Unavoidably, at the end of each dynasty, the last emperor would manifest as The Flayed King, and bring unspeakable horror and suffering upon all in his wake. This would occur regardless of how splendid each dynasty had started, or how honorable its founder had been. Then, another hero would rise to the occasion, slay the manifestation (and often the entire corrupted bloodline), bringing peace and prosperity to the land once more. However, the cycle would continue, and his bloodline would in turn eventually fall to corruption. It is unknown if these reincarnations are due to the King casting a cast a curse out of spite for his successors, whether it is an umpromised gift granted by his master. It is believed by the King's followers that each time, the wound in reality grows wider and, and the final desolation of Hyad grows closer. Theme of The Flayed King 怨 (Enemite) - 巫怨 (The Necrolatry) Category:Characters Category:Nobility Category:Tian-Hyad Category:Old Gods Category:Curses